We have never been huge Dickel 8 fans, but we always found it drinkable. Last week, a family member brought over a 375 of the current Dickel 8 (it had disappeared for a while, for those of you who aren't really interested in Dickel), and it was terrible! Not sure how it would mix (we didn't try; we just dumped the glass we poured to share). By far, this as the worst whiskey we've had in a long time. We presume it's due to the addition of much younger whiskey and/or higher percentage of lower quality barrels. Unless the quality of the 12 can be maintained, there may be a bleak future for the brand.

Dave and Tina, how can you know that the bottle you sampled was 'new' Dickel #8? From bottle markings (such as a bottom-stamped date)? Or is the bottle/labeling somehow different?I know of several stores around here who still have the 'old' #8 in stock because they caught wind of the coming shortage and bought 'long'.Mind you, I'm just asking these questions to verify provenance, not because I doubt your tastebuds in the least. I think the 3yo Cascade Hollow, which has/will become the #8 as it reappears, is dreck. Thus, wouldn't surprise me a bit if you're describing post-hiatus #8.

We have it on reliable authority that this represents the new Dickel 8. However, that, of course, is not proof. The only objective differences from the old vs. the new (based on a comparison bottle we have from 05) we can offer are:

The Cascade Hollow label is black and looks just like the Old No. 8 label except it does have "Cascade Hollow" in the place of the "No. 8". Of course it was intentially made to look like the older brand, hoping people would not pay attention to the details and pick it up when they were looking for "No.8". Take another look at the label and double check. If you set bottles of the two products side by side, you would really have to take a close look to tell the two apart.

TNbourbon wrote:Dave and Tina, how can you know that the bottle you sampled was 'new' Dickel #8? From bottle markings (such as a bottom-stamped date)? Or is the bottle/labeling somehow different?I know of several stores around here who still have the 'old' #8 in stock because they caught wind of the coming shortage and bought 'long'.Mind you, I'm just asking these questions to verify provenance, not because I doubt your tastebuds in the least. I think the 3yo Cascade Hollow, which has/will become the #8 as it reappears, is dreck. Thus, wouldn't surprise me a bit if you're describing post-hiatus #8.

Tim said "dreck". I'll take your word for it, and angleshare's as well (Dave & Tina = angleshare). It must be really bad tasting whiskey to invoke these kinds of comments from folks I konw to be knowledgable and devoted Bourbon Enthusiasts.